A Higher Plan in Mind
by skyknyt
Summary: A story of faith in the Imperium of Man. Can a lowly preacher change the future of mankind?
1. Prologue

Skye Knighton  
"A Higher Plan in Mind"  
  


The acrid smoke of burning bodies drifted across the field. The once lush grass had been stomped into bloody mud. The faraway rumble of machinery was the only reminder of the brutal soldiers that had fought here. Nearby, bodies were lying in piles, awaiting a burial sanctified by the Emperor. The soft sound of digging could barely be perceived in the distance.  
  


Robert Williams, the former preacher of Ursa squad, worked slowly, bringing up deep spadefuls of earth. He was an ancient man, his tattered robes fraying and yellowing. While he worked, he slowly mumbled hymns of praise to the Emperor, asking Him for guidance.  He was digging graves for each of his squadmates.  At the thought of them, Robert gripped his rosarius close to his chest, and remembered his life with a sigh.


	2. Just yesterday...

**YESTERDAY**

The events leading up to the terrible battle had had their start with the Canoness's arrival on Therus III. She had come with great fanfare, aboard a giant starship. She brought with her several of her elite bodyguard, and desires to end heresy throughout the Therus star system, starting with Therus III. It had long been known that a heretical cult had sprung up in the mines of Therus III, and now manpower from the Ecclesiarchy had arrived to crush it.

The Canoness marched down from the platform surrounded by preachers and hierophants, flanked by her ever present guards, the Celestians. She headed straight for the podium near the platform, as thousands cheered her arrival. She tapped lightly on the microphone, then turned it off.

"Much like our Emperor turned from technology to rely on His own considerable spirit, so I turn from technology to rely on my own abilities," her voice boomed out across the crowd, "In this time of difficulty for the Therus system, we will not know who our allies are. So that we do not betray the Emperor's trust in us, we shall burn all that are heretics. We cannot stay our hand, for to do so would be to show a weakness in our faith, and that would be worse than death." As she concluded her speech, the crowd cheered loudly, and the Planetary Defense Forces began to unload equipment from her ship. The Canoness climbed into a Rhino Armored Personnel Carrier, and went down the street in her motorcade, towards the Cathedral of the Emperor, the main cathedral of Therus III.  Preacher Williams stood amongst the crowd, planning to leave before the end of the speech.  _She's grown so much. He moved out of the crowd as it cheered, hurrying to arrive at the temple before the motorcade._

Preacher Williams remembered this vividly, as he sat in front of the Cathedral that day, awaiting the Canoness's arrival.  

The motorcade bearing the Canoness crawled closer. Celestians, beautiful in their armored glory, hung off the sides of the Rhino. Each one carried her weapon expertly, watching for assassins or heresy among the crowd. The motorcade pulled in front of the cathedral, and the Canoness stepped out and walked up the marbled steps. This was where Preacher Williams met her.  _I wonder if she remembers me…_


	3. 50 Years ago

**50 YEARS AGO**

It had been Sanguinitide Eve, a lifetime ago.  He still wore the robes a beginning preacher, and his hair the color of night.  A little orphan, named after the great Saint Iduna.  She must not have been ten yet, but already she was a common site around the Cathedral.  Robert was lighting the candles around the Icon of Sanguinius, whilst mumbling the appropriate hymns.

"Tell me the story again, Preacher sir," her face glowing.

"Which, Iduna?" The church had taken her in as an orphan.  Her parents had died in a purge.  Ordo Hereticus inquisitors had lead in Battle Sisters to burn out a cult, mutated by their contact with aliens, doomed to become pawns in alien schemes.  The cultists opened fire on approaching troops, and hundreds had died in the crossfire, Iduna's parents included.

"The story of Sanguinius!"

"Again?" Preacher Williams happy though, he loved telling the story and no one was a more attentive listener than Iduna… "The Emperor's palace on Terra had been surrounded by the fleet of his son, Horus the Betrayer.  Horus used his massive psychic powers to prevent the Emperor from knowing that the Third Fleet was on its way, bearing Rogal Dorn...  Horus knew that his defeat was only a matter of time, unless he could kill the Emperor before reinforcements arrived.  So he let down the shields around his ship, an open challenge to the Emperor.  The Emperor, thinking it was His last hope, attacked Horus with His loyal children.  As they teleported aboard, Horus split them up, first teleporting Sanguinius straight to his lair.  Meanwhile the Emperor fought towards the bridge.

"Sanguinius knew he stood no chance against Horus, but refused to sway to his side…  Horus gripped Sanguinius with his lightning claws and strangled him.  The Emperor came upon them, horrified to see His children locked in combat.  Sanguinius, knowing that he would die, made a final stab with his sword at Horus, forcing his guard down enough for the Emperor to leap into battle.

"The Emperor, enraged at having lost one son, was still torn with His love for Horus.  His flaming power sword came down again and again, but He couldn't bring himself to use the full force of His powers on the Betrayer.  Horus took advantage of this, rending apart the Emperor's power armor, piece by piece.  Finally, Horus struck the Emperor down with a blow from his lightning claws.  As he stood over his Father, the Emperor looked into His child's eyes, and realized that His son was dead  The Emperor forced all the energy He still possessed into a beam of divine light, striking down Horus, but leaving Himself powerless to heal His own wounds, sustained during the battle."

"How did the Emperor survive?" Iduna demanded, "After all, He watches over us, right?" 

"Yes, Iduna.  Well His other children found Him lying there, living only because He willed it Himself.  He directed them to make Him a throne, capable of maintaining His life.  The cost of this was that He could never again leave it."

"So how does He protect us?"

"His body is forced to remain in the Golden Throne, protected by His Custodians, the Adeptus Custodes, but His mind is free to soar the universe, and is a beacon to all our ships.  Without Him, we would never be able to leave our worlds!"

"So why do we celebrate Sanguinitide?" Iduna wondered, "After all, Sanguinius died without even hurting Horus."

The Preacher looked confused for a second, "Well, my dear, Sanguinius was the first of the Emperor's children to die in the Horus Heresy, and stood as an example to all humanity, to die rather than give in to weakness!  To fight, even though it means death, in the face of the Emperor's enemies!"

Iduna gasped with surprise, "Then why do we give gifts to each other?" 

"Well…" the Preacher fumbled for words, "That's to help us remember when to do it…  I think its time for bed."

Preacher Williams nudged her off in the direction of the orphanage, "Sleep tight little one."


	4. The gift

"Ah... I remember your face, Preacher. Let me see if I can connect your name. Williams, was that it? The bright spot of my previous stay here..." The Canoness fumbled among her robes and armor for a moment, drawing out a cloth package. Carefully unwrapping it, she handed a bulky ankh on a beaded chain to him. "This is a rosarius, blessed in the great church of Terra itself. Wearing it blesses you with the Emperor's divine protection."

Robert was impressed that she remembered his name, though he did not show it. That she remembered him at all was encouraging to his dreams and prayers, and the gift of a rosarius proved it. She swept into the church, flanked by hundreds of followers. Williams stood immovable in the crowd, transfixed on this precious gift.

Williams moved into the cathedral, his home of many years.  Williams watched the Canoness.  Her power armor covered all but her head, offering little insight into the scars her life might have left her.  It was a smooth black, but the sash she wore from her waist, a bright scarlet, and her shoulder insignia covered in gold leaf.  The armor was thick, strong enough to block lasers and explosives, as well as enhance strength and agility, the pinnacle of human invention.  Her face looked younger than it should have, and her hair still had streaks of black, despite the years, _A__ side effect from the regenerative abilities of her armor, most likely.  He stared at her, thinking back, oblivious to her speech._


	5. 44 Years ago

**44 YEARS AGO  
  
**

Iduna packed up her clothes into a large trunk, careful to get everything.  Preacher Williams watched her from her doorway, amazed that the black haired child he had hoped to teach his life's work was now a woman.  A woman making her own choices.  A woman leaving him.  Her face already had lost the cute pudginess it had as a child, now all angles, harder, almost.

"So you're joining the Adepta Sororitas, then?"

She seemed surprised by the question, "Of course!  The Daughters of the Emperor need all the members they can get!  I'll protect the Emperor's people all across the Imperium." 

"Its not that I'm opposed to that," Robert was confused by this turn of events.  Iduna, recruited by the Sisters?  To wear powered armor and hunt down heretics and aliens?  His little Iduna?  "It's just that I expected you to join the Clergy, become a Priestess."

"Well this is even better than that!  I'll be sent to the Convent Prioris, the greatest cathedral in all the Imperium!" Iduna almost danced as she packed her belongings, "One day I could even be a Canoness or Prioress!" The excitement in her voice squelched any more thoughts of protest Robert might have had, _She's__ already aspiring higher than a mere Preacher or Priestess._

She picked up the trunk with both hands and walked slowly down the orphanage hall. "Do you need a hand?"

"No thanks," she replied, "They'll have us lifting much heavier stuff in training.  I should get used to it now." She stepped out onto the street, where a blocky car was waiting.  A Sister Novice was driving.

Robert hugged her, "Take care." _Will I ever see you again, Iduna?_

She kissed him lightly on the cheek, "I will Preacher Williams, I will."


	6. Into the breach!

"… Williams, Calum, and Santrius will be among those accompanying my troops tomorrow to provide hymns and spiritual support on the battlefield," she concluded her speech.  Preacher Williams shook his head, still lost in the past.  "All units attending the battle will meet at the tarmac an hour before dawn.  That is all." The Canoness swept out as abruptly as she had swept in.  In seconds, both her and her bodyguard had vanished.

Her company assembled at dawn on the tarmac of the spaceport. Robert stood with Ursa squad, its brave women looking confidently towards their leader, the Canoness. Their armor shone in the dawning sun, they truly resembled the Emperor's heavenly host. The Canoness stood in front of the company, and looked out upon her force.  Rank after rank of Sororitas, all bearing weapons capable of rending tanks apart, yet wearing armor capable of withstanding such punishment in return.  Scattered amongst them were the priests and priestesses of the church, the reminders of the Sororitas' holy duties.

"Good morning my brave women, and men," she nodded towards the scattered preachers among the forces, "you are among the Emperor's finest troops. Though you may feel small amongst the stars, look at your beautiful planet; look at this wonderful city. This was the accomplishment of people like you. People like you will be responsible for making sure it stays as beautiful as it is now. Many of you do not realize it, but as a young girl in a convent, I was raised here. That is what makes this such an important war for me, as it pains me greatly to see my home tainted by heretics. I hope that you realize it is well within your grasp today to help me achieve this. I am relying on each and every one of you, as is the Emperor Himself."

As she finished, she began to march towards her transport. The entire company cheered and began to climb into their rhinos. Engines started up, and fifteen rhinos drove into the mammoth cargo bay of the craft. Powerful engines began the transport's sub orbital ascent. It began a long arcing curve, using Therus III's rotation, and brought itself down towards a heretical encampment.

Inside the transport, Preacher Williams fiddled with his bolt pistol, a relic from his youth.  He had never actually used it outside of mandatory Defense Force training.  Room in the rhino was scarce, but the Battle Sisters looked as if entranced.  He could barely breathe from nervousness, but the Sisters ignored the claustrophobic environment.  They focused on their bolters, all well oiled and maintained.  _Is this their way of being nervous? The Sister Superior looked at him, then gestured to the landing counter, slowly working towards zero.  "Preacher Williams, would you please lead us in prayer?" she asked quietly. _

"Right, of course."  Join me in prayer my dear Daughters of the Emperor.  "May the Emperor watch over us in battle today.  May the Emperor guide our fire, that it will strike sure and true. May the Emperor bless our armor, that our foes shall not breach it.  May the Emperor bless our minds, that the heretics shall never harm our eternal souls, for they are under His protection, Amen."

"Amen," the Sisters responded in unison. The transport landed with a lurch. The crackly voice of the Canoness came over the speakers. "Good luck, Daughters of the Emperor, and may He stand watch over you."

With a roar, the fifteen rhinos charged across a lush pasture towards a small, unassuming town. The town was perfectly silent, and the dawning sun was barely over the horizon. Suddenly, the silence of the town was broken by the hiss of a rocket leaping from a hidden alcove. The lead rhino, manned by Ursa squad, was hit in its front armor.

Preacher Williams had never encountered a situation like the one with which he was faced. Suddenly the squad leader was shouting "jump" and the rhino's communication link had gone dead. Before he could think, the squad had leapt from the side. He hesitated, preparing himself to jump.  "Move move move!" roared the Sister Superior.  Robert dropped a few feet and followed the squad.

Then he noticed with horror the nearest wall of a house had collapsing. Out of this opening leapt the vilest creatures he had ever seen. They possessed four arms, each ending in razor sharp claws. They were at least 6 feet tall, and moved with inhuman speed.

Ursa squad did not falter, and fired upon the monstrosities.  Robert pointed his pistol and fired alongside them, round after round hitting the aliens.

Several collapsed into pools of ichor, but the rest came at them. Robert could only watch, horrified, as the beasts tore through one armored Sister after another.  "Pray Preacher!" the Sister screamed.


	7. Later that night

**THAT NIGHT**

Preacher Williams took a deep breath, and knocked on the door of the Canoness' room in the cathedral.  The wood reverberated, and the knock echoed down the hall.

"Come in." came the Canoness' voice.

Robert walked in, the Canoness was facing a runescreen, and plugging power cords into her armor.  "Hello, Iduna." _Will she? Does she?_

The Canoness turned, "How do you know my?… Oh.  It's you,"  she turned back to the screen, and touched a button.  Her armor hissed, and its many plates began to pull away from her body.  The metal backpack, no doubt a power source, settled to the ground.

Robert turned away, horrified by her lack of modesty.  _Is this really my Iduna?_

"Oh come now Preacher, you used to bathe me.  Look at what the church has made me, turned me into, to protect itself."

Robert turned back around, and saw the horrific network of scars covering the Cano… no, Iduna's body.  Burns, gunshot, and sword wounds covered the entirety of her body, the painful reminders of her career.  The preacher merely stood, agape, unable to respond to Iduna's horrifying condition.  "You see, Preacher, our armor won't let me die, it barely lets me bleed.  Without this suit I would have died long ago, a victim on some horrible battlefield."

"How... why… why do you go on?"  Roberts couldn't stand the sight any longer, and turned away from her.  _What have they done? What have I done?_

Iduna stared at him, "Do you remember the night of the purge?  The night my parents died?" Roberts nodded blindly.  "Well when I stayed at the Convent Prioris, I decided to ask the Emperor about that.  In person."


	8. 40 Years ago

**40 YEARS AGO**

Iduna sat restlessly in her seat.  She already missed her power armor.  Her nerve contacts itched, confused by the lack of sensation in their constant uplink with the suit.  The train car was uncomfortably cold, something her armor would have remedied, or at least allowed her to ignore.  The train was just starting after its last stop, loading on more passengers into the crowded lower levels.  _I should at least be glad my status got me an upper level seat.  The train car was empty except for her, and the seats made to accommodate the giants of the Adeptus Astartes, rather than ordinary humans.  __I feel like a lost child here._

She looked down at her Pilgrimage Leave, given to her by the Canoness assigned to her wing.  It was scribed in High Gothic, in penmanship so immaculate it could have been printed.  "Dear Iduna, your request is not unique.  Many novices desire to visit the Emperor's Tomb during their stay here.  Your request is hereby granted."  She folded up the letter and placed it in amongst her white robes, the traditional garb of pilgrims.

The train began to slow down, and ground to a stop.  She looked outside the windows of the car, at the crowd pushing in and out.  A procession of chained and hooded people, being prodded into the car by Adeptus Arbites caught her eye.  _Why are they getting on the train to the Emperor's tomb?  She wondered.  The hiss of hydraulics behind her startled her back into her seat.  She listened to heavy clomp of metal on the floor, and the rhythmic hiss of power armor 'breathing.'  Iduna turned around to see a man wearing a suit of grey power armor taking a seat across the aisle from her.  His armor looked to be of far older design than hers, but considerably more ornate.  A stylized skull was on his shoulder, with curled horns facing downwards.  The edges of his shoulder pads were gilded, as were all the studs on the armored plates.  The powerpack was of even more ancient design, and was covered in vents that most modern varieties didn't have.  Upon realizing that she was staring, she turned and looked back at her knees.  __My feet barely even touch the floor…_

"Hey, Sister."  It could only be one person.  She turned to face him.  "Making a pilgrimage to the Tomb?"

She nodded, "Yes, visiting while I'm stationed her on Terra." She looked back down at her knees.

He peered intently at her. _Doesn't he care that he's staring?  Why did he have to get on my car?  "So, Sister, do you want to know why I'm going to the Tomb?"  She remained staring at her knees.  "If you couldn't tell from my outfit, I'm an Inquisitor.  We report directly to the Emperor.  Get new assignments from him.  That sort of thing."_

_So, this is one of the people that killed my parents.  How can they talk to the Emperor like that, yet I'm a Sororita and I've never heard his voice!?_

"Because, there are untold billions of people.  He can't attend each and every one of your injustices personally.  Many more than you have lost family to my caste."

She looked at him, aghast.  "What? How?  How did you do that?  How dare you invade the privacy of my mind!"

His face was pockmarked, his hair was graying, yet he spread a mischievous grin across his face.  "I'm sorry Sister, that's just the thing I do, you see.  All Inquisitors are psychic.  That's why we're Inquisitors."

"But psychics are an abomination!  A terrible mutation that needs to be purged!"

The Inquisitor chuckled, she knew that he must have answered this question hundreds of times before by the way he responded, "You must know that the Emperor and all His children were psychic?"

"Well, yes.  But He is a God!  He can control the forces of Chaos, prevent them from entering His mind!"

The Inquisitor laughed again, "Ah my dear, what are those churches teaching these days?  The Emperor was born just as human…"

"BLASPHEMY! You invade my train merely to spout heresy in my ears!"

"Don't forget, little Sister, that the Inquisition rules over your church as well."

            Iduna sat back, defeated.  _No!  It cannot be true!  How dare he!  How dare he._

            "The fact that he was once human doesn't change the reality that he is necessary for our survival in this universe."

            "But if He's not a god, what point is all our worship?  Why spend our lives in prayer?"

            "To remember his sacrifice, to continue to fight towards what he desired.  Inquisitors are his eyes, ears, hand, and sword, where he lacks them.  By the way, if you look out your window, you can see the Emperor's Tomb.  Did you know it was built over his original citadel?"

            Iduna looked up, halfheartedly, and saw the breathtaking mountain of the Imperial Palace, that had become the Emperor's final resting place, as well.  "So were all the stories made up, as well?"  _Has everything been a lie?_

            The Inquisitor looked over at her, "Of course not.  If anything, the stories are the real truth.  You don't see him announcing that he's a god anywhere, do you?  He really fought Horus in a battle to the death.  Each one of his children was made with his love and care.  His genes are passed on to the Adeptus Astartes, by way of his children.  They even say the Sororitas were formed by one of his daughters."

            Iduna sighed, "If you know so much, then why do we give presents out at Sanguinitide?"

            The Inquisitor looked confused for a moment.  "Well, I'd think that's obvious.  Its to help us remember when to celebrate it."

            Iduna started, and looked over into the aged eyes, scanning them.  "Did you just glean that from my memories?"

            He looked away, "Well, I must admit that I did.  The reason the Emperor decreed it was to commemorate the gift Sanguinius gave to mankind.  But your preacher seemed to grasp the underlying importance of giving people, unrelated to the event, a reason to remember and embrace it."

            Iduna returned to staring at the approaching Citadel.  Its towering height seemed impossible, touching the sky itself.  Giant cannons, built thousands of years before, aimed into the stars at enemies not yet born.  The entire place seemed filled with a sense of history, both written and future, that overwhelmed the individual people involved.  Suddenly the train shot into the darkness of a tunnel built to the tomb.  Iduna stared into her reflection, she no longer saw a brave Sororita, but a lost girl.  "So will I get to talk to him?  I mean, the Emperor?"

            The Inquisitor, staring into his own reflection, looked at hers in his window, and answered without turning his head, "Sometimes he enlightens the visitors to his gravesite, when he's not busy with matters of the Imperium.  But these time are rare, and I wouldn't hope for much more than the company of other pilgrims."

            "Why are you telling me all of this?  Why have you killed my hopes?"

            "When you've lived as long as I have, you begin to tire of the façade.  My hope is that you will use this information and blossom into a true hope, not based on the lies my kind perpetrates.  That you will inspire others based on this hope, and remove the need for the lies."

            Iduna felt small, too small for the task presented to her.  _Why me?_

            "Chance."

            The train started to slow down, approaching its final destination.  The doors slid open, noiselessly, into an atmosphere resembling a museum.  Adeptus Arbites prodded their chained and blindfolded charges out the doors and away from the train, whilst other white robed pilgrims stepped out, stretching.  Iduna turned around to the Inquisitor before she stepped off, "Why did the Arbites bring prisoners here?"

            "For their judgment.  They are all psychics, but only the Emperor can tell if they will serve humanity… or chaos."

            "What happens to them?" She stepped down onto the stone.

            "The ones that pass muster, he makes Inquisitors, Astropaths, or Celestial Choir Singers.  Those that don't, get destroyed by the Golden Throne, their powers providing sustenance to the Emperor's life."

            "He feeds on their psychic powers?"

            "Basically.  They are already doomed to be controlled by demons of the warp…  Best that they are redeemed in death than subverted in life."

            Iduna shuddered, then turned to the Path of Heroes, the walkway of the pilgrimage.  "This is where we depart Sister.  Your soul shines brightly, take care of yourself.  And lest you think this conversation fruitless…"  He reached into a pouch hanging on his waist, and pulled out a long beaded chain, with a bulky ankh on the end.  "This relic emits a conversion field that will protect you from virtually any attack.  I feel that it will serve you well."  He hung it around her neck.

            "Thank you, Inquisitor.  I will… meditate on this."

            He walked off in the direction of the Arbites, as she moved towards the Path of Heroes.  _So many lies.  Are they truly necessary?  As she walked up the stairs, she saw the gaping emptiness above her.  The stairway opened into an enormous hall, filled with battle standards, each signed by the survivors of the campaign it commemorated.  Some were filled with hundreds of names, others, more poignantly, were tattered and shredded, and bore few.  The pathway was lit by soft lights, and it meandered through miles of these standards before reaching a giant gate, hundreds of feet tall.  Censers hung from posts, releasing a calming scent.  The air above occasionally whirred, and speeding white orbs flitted by.  As Iduna walked along, she passed other pilgrims, examining flags.  Some appeared to be there looking for flags with people they knew, moving slowly through the field to find the right campaign.  Iduna couldn't understand how they could hope to find the proper one, for the field of standards stretched in all directions._

            She moved on, heading for the massive doors that led deeper into the Tomb.  She passed a truly enormous pilgrim, kneeling next to a standard and weeping.  She glanced at it, there were four names scrawled at the bottom of the standard, which was dirty and covered in blood.  Underneath the damage, the insignia of the Dark Angels was barely visible.  _This man must be an Adeptus Astartes on pilgrimage.  I wonder if he's one of the names… or lost a friend there…  She desired to ask him herself, but it seemed a crime to speak in the silence of this holy place.  Iduna reached over and patted him on the back, to at least console him.  He turned and looked at her, their eyes met, and he seemed to say "Thank you."  He then looked back at the remnants of the flag, and she moved on._

            After an hour of walking, she arrived at the foot of the door.  An Adeptus Custodes gestured inwards, to the Shrine of Mourning.


End file.
